


The Cat and the Dragon

by blindinkpoet



Series: Broken Weapon [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:28:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25053157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blindinkpoet/pseuds/blindinkpoet
Summary: When she saves him from certain death, their destinies become bound.Danica Voss belongs to Sphinxriddle.
Relationships: Mana'to Parbaja (Original Character)/Danica Voss (Original Character)
Series: Broken Weapon [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1469429
Kudos: 1





	The Cat and the Dragon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sphinxriddle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sphinxriddle/gifts).



The shaft of his axe broke under the Primal’s…  _ Odin’s _ strength. Its blade bit his body, spilling blood on the forest floor. The mist it had seemingly brought with him grew thicker, taking an almost red tint.

Mana’to Parbaja was going to die.

After all the fights in the arena, all the suicide missions for the Empire, every Primal he’d taken on for the Scions… he’d die fighting a glorified horse-riding asshole with a big sword, barely a few malms from Gridania.

If his teeth weren’t gritted trying to hold down a scream he’d be laughing.

_ Need space, need breathing room, need Lily… _

He still had his axe. Broken, ruined, but he could still use it. The shaft moved, swatting away at the Primal’s blade as it tried to return for another strike. It carved into the wood, chips flying away, until it got stuck. Mana’to pushed back, making an opening that let him sink the axehead in the Primal’s leg.

Odin’s painful wail almost deafened him, as the Primal kicked him away, the contact of the boot on his wound sending shockwaves through his body. He spent what seemed like an eternity coursing through the air, before his back smashed against a tree, blood and air escaping from his lungs.

The Primal’s steps towards him were like thunder, reverberating on his chest, worsening his wound. That thing would kill him, take him away from his daughter. From his friends. Would they even learn about what happened to him? Would they ever find his broken remains? Or would they find  _ it _ , waiting.

No.

Sod that.

With a shaking hand he pulled out his grimoire from its case under his shirt. Lily was only too eager to answer his call, her light immediately washing over him, easing his pain. Poison and miasma traveled, dark clouds of magic mingling with the mists, penetrating the Primal’s armor, making it cough as they corroded its flesh and lungs.

He began to chan, runes of light forming out of his aether, channeled through the arcane geometries of his grimoire. He fought through the pain, through the exhaustion, through the ringing in his ears, fought for every ilm of focus he could muster.

Ruin is a most basic spell. An unaspected ball of pure aether, perfect for every occasion. Ruin II was a more powerful variant, one that brought with it a nasty area of impact.

He’d been working on a version III for some time now.

The world  _ broke _ in a thousand mirror shards, as the Dark Divinity extended a gauntlet arm, grabbing him by the throat, breaking his concentration. The runes vanished as the spell fizzled out, unfinished. Mana’to barely registered the thud of his grimoire falling to the ground, Lily’s psychic distress, or even the Primal itself.

He barely had the strength to kick and punch, to reach for the hand that tightened around his neck.

Mana’to was going to die.

The world began to grow darker…

+++

For all its natural beauty, there was something unnerving hangin in the air of the Black Shroud. It was old, as old as the world, maybe. And dark. Not evil per-se. It was like the forest itself was an entity that didn’t look kindly on people treading upon it.

Danica Voss knew about the Elementals, of course. Those spirits that the people of Gridania paid tribute and listened to in order to be allowed to dwell in the forest. But today of all days, it felt like there was something else lording over the woods. Another, more alien and malign entity, enforcing its will on the woods.

Which was all fine as far as she was concerned. It probably was that Primal they’d sent her to take down.

Now… what had they been able to tell her about Odin? It appeared as a knight, clad in black armour and mounted on a black horse. It didn’t seem to have an interest in Tampering spoken, and despite having been slayed many times before it always seemed to pop back up again.

Not much to go on, but the Twelve knew they usually didn’t make things easy for her.

It began as a feeling as she made her way through the foliage. A sudden oppressiveness in the air that made her skin crawl. She didn’t realise she was holding her spear until the tip passed in front of her as she brandished it.

She quickened her pace, anxiety building in the back of her throat as suddenly the unmistakable sounds of fighting reached her ears. Before she knew it, she was running, muscles begging to be let loose, begging her to jump through the trees. Sings of the battle became more and more obvious, the damage more and more dire. A broken twig and foot prints suddenly became a tree split in twain, rocks smashed into pieces by steel and magic.

She arrived just in time to see the black-clad knight smash a red-haired Miqo’te against a tree, blood spilling from his mouth.

In a split second she took off, the knight screaming in pain as her spear split his hand from his arm. She barely registered the Miqo’te’s body fall with a thump. She needed to make space around him, take the knight away…

Stabbing the ground to change direction, she struck the knight once more, heels first. The horse reeled back as the knight fell to the ground, the earth shaking under his weight.

Danica quickly moved to stand between him and the wounded.

“You will not take him, tin man…” she taunted with a fierce smile as Odin, it had to be him, struggled to stand with only one hand to help himself.

She charged, ducking when the Primal sought to strike, his blade cutting a wide arc in front of him. Her spear was faster, piercing between the plates of his armour. Her triumph was short lived, however. Odin pivoted, kicking her away, though she didn’t let go of her weapon. She felt the coppery taste of blood in her mouth for only a moment before it was gone, a warm light enveloping her.

She turned to see the Miqo’te panting, with a hand extended towards her. Danica nodded her thanks as she started running, dancing around the Primal. One, two, three, four, her spear struck again and again and again, until the armour shattered under the onslaught of her attacks and her spear shone red with blood.

Odin fell to his knees, his aether dispersing into the air before he fell to the ground.

Danica stood alert for a few moments more before she sighed in relief and lowered her guard just a bit. That oppressive feeling, that tension from before was gone, making for a sharp contrast as the adrenaline began to leave her body ever so slowly.

Around her, the forest began to go back to normal. Well, as normal as an enchanted forest could be. She turned towards the wounded. He looked like he’d been used as a punching bag for far too long, with an ugly slash across his chest drawing her immediate attention. A mote of light she hadn’t noticed before was over him, bathing him in faint light.  
  


“Hello there, friend. Can you walk?” she said, softly, extending a hand.


End file.
